Stay with me
by matelovenothate98
Summary: When Adrien leaves for Tibet , he leaves Marinette alone. Shortly after they break up because of her mistake . Too bad that's not the only she made since she's pregnant with his baby and wants to keep it a secret Slight AU


**Warning: Birth in the first chapter, in case you feel uncomfortable with it feel free to skip to chapter 2(once it´s published). thank you so much and I hope you enjoy.**

Becoming a mother at the age of nineteen had never been a part of Marinette Dupain Cheng's plan. She and Adrien always used protection. But somehow, something went wrong and Marinette found out she was pregnant the day after her boyfriend left for Tibet.

Just the morning before, she sent Adrien on his way with a kiss and a million promises (from both of them) to regularly skype, talk on the phone, text, and so on because neither of them wanted their relationship to fail. There were tears and whispered I love you's and then Adrien was gone, leaving for the airport with his father, trading Paris for Tibet and... leaving Marinette behind.

It wasn't like Marinette didn't want him to go; she wanted Adrien to get everything he ever wanted in the world, especially when it came to achieving his dreams. But still, she was going to miss her boyfriend like crazy. Plus it didn't seem to help that she kept on getting a strange queasy feeling in her stomach. For a while, she copped it up to her being nervous about starting school without Adrien. There were mornings when she'd wake up and immediately be sick and she'd just brush it off, thinking it was just a passing 24-hour bug. Then that 24-hour bug turned into a daily thing, followed by weekly, and when it stretched on into a month-long thing, she got worried a bit.

Of course, she never said anything. Adrien was still down in the dumps about not getting accepted to Tibet University and having to work for his father, so Marinette did her best to be there for her boyfriend even when she felt like staying in bed all day and sleeping for hours on end. So, after Adrien hopped on his plane and left Paris, Marinette went back to Collège Françoise Dupont with that damn swirling feeling in her gut again. She told herself that it was just her nerves because Adrien was gone and that she'd get it checked out later if it kept on.

The following day, Marinette woke up sick as a dog again and finally decided to go to the doctor. She spent so much time just feeling off and she knew she needed help, so she went for it. The doctor gave her a complete physical, discussed her past sexual history with her, and had her get a round of bloodwork just in case. An hour later, she was called back to the office and told, "Congratulations, Ms. Dupain Cheng. You're going to have a baby."

Congratulations. As if being an unwed teenaged parent was part of the plan. As if it was something she wanted to happen. Adrien was off in Tibet, she was stuck in Paris alone and the last thing she wanted to do was call Adrien and tell him to come home. A baby would put a damper on their plans. Marinette still had her senior year to pass. Adrien was looking to try and make it in the world. A baby didn't factor into either of their plans.

But truthfully, while Marinette was scared out of her mind, she was also slightly happy... because the child he carried within her was created from the love she and Adrien shared.

Or, well... used to share, since Adrien broke up with her not long after he went to Tibet. But it wasn't Adrien's fault at all; it was all Marinette's. Because she made a stupid mistake.

::::::::::

Going to Luka's house was a stupid idea, but Marinette went anyway because at the time her emotions were all over the place. She was pregnant and alone and ridiculously scared that her boyfriend was moving on without her. The pace at which Adrien's new life was going didn't even slow down enough for Marinette to catch up and hop back on - because she fell off the ride a long time ago and Adrien was having so much fun that he didn't even realize his girlfriend had taken a tumble and wasn't there beside him anymore.

The last straw for Marinette was the night of her election, the night she found out she was going to be the new class president. It was something Adrien tried to do back when he was a senior, but he wasn't elected, so a lot of his ideas and plans for Collège Françoise Dupont were brushed to the side while Chloe reigned as president (and barely did a thing during her whole term.) Adrien had been terribly upset over his loss and Marinette had been there by his side to listen whenever her boyfriend needed to vent. She was there to hear all of Adrien's ideas. She knew everything that Adrien wanted Collège Françoise Dupont to become, so when it came time for sign-ups, Marinette took the bait. She wanted to get into office and help the school as Adrien wanted. She wanted to change things, to make things better for the future students, and she won. She won and when she tried to tell Adrien, all she got was nothing. Her calls were ignored, her voicemails and texts weren't responded to, and by the end of that night, Marinette knew it was over. Adrien was moving on without her and there wasn't anything she could do.

It was also that night that Marinette made a grievous mistake: she went looking for someone else to talk to. Somebody that could possibly make her feel better, make her understand just why all of this stuff was happening to her. She was looking for someone who knew what it was like to be alone and dealing with something as life-changing as pregnancy. So, she went searching for help online, for support groups and that's where he found Luka

Or, to be precise, where Luka found her.

The guy was persistent in the beginning, commenting on Marinette's posts on the support groups' walls, saying things like how Marinette didn't need to do this alone. A little weirded out, Marinette didn't respond to the messages, nor did she respond to the pokes or the friend requests on facebook by this mysterious guy. She wasn't even sure how Luka found her on there. All she did was post a thread in a pregnancy forum and the next thing he knew, her facebook was getting bombarded with messages. She didn't even know the guy and she wasn't sure she even wanted to know him. She missed Adrien, missed their talks and just seeing her boyfriend's face at all. So, in a last ditch effort, Marinette tried to reconnect with her boyfriend to let him know how much she missed him. How much she needed him.

But Adrien hung up on her for some meeting and that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

That night, Marinette went over to Luka's house. The messages the guy sent were pretty obvious (What's up sexy? and Do you want to come over?) but Marinette went over even though she wasn't sure what she planned to do once she got there. She was pretty sure she knew what Luka wanted - that much was obvious, but when she got there and saw Luka, saw the man who had been messaging her for days now, she wasn't sure if being there was even a good idea. She was so mad at Adrien though, heartbroken that her boyfriend would ditch her over some petty meeting, that she went looking for attention from somebody else. It was so stupid, so dumb, but she did it anyway (and later on, she would regret every second of it.)

In the beginning, Luka didn't seem like that bad of a guy. He actually began talking to Marinette, engaging her in a conversation about her pregnancy and asking her how she felt. It was the first time in forever that Marinette had been asked about her feelings and that was the moment that Luka suckered her in. But then the blue-haired man began telling her how Adrien didn't deserve her or their child and how could Adrien just abandon her in his time of need - of which Marinette tried to explain that Adrien didn't even know, but Luka shook his head and said, "If he was a good boyfriend, he'd know that you were suffering." And then he kissed her.

Marinette should have stopped him there, made Luka back off, but she didn't. She let things go a little further. God, at the time she felt so alone, so lost in her new existence (because at that time she was hiding her pregnancy from everyone and her hormones were so messed up); she was stressed and flat-out exhausted, plus she missed Adrien like crazy. She missed feeling wanted and loved and at that moment in time, Luka was showing her that, making her feel good like she'd missed for so long.

They continued kissing, Marinette lost in the moment of feeling wanted that she wasn't even paying attention to her surroundings. She wasn't even sure how long they'd been making out for (obviously it was long enough for her to have lost her shirt and for Luka to have unbuckled his jeans), but the second Luka's hand brushed against the bare skin of her growing belly, it was like someone threw a punch at her . Frantically, she pushed Luka away, her eyes wide in shock and guilt burning in her gut. Luka stared at her for a moment, also shocked that he'd been shoved away, but when he took a look at Marinette's pale face, he rolled off of the bed and offered Marinette a glass of water.

Marinette couldn't take it. She couldn't even look at the guy she just cheated on Adrien with. Bile rose in her throat and she was so close to throwing up that she just had to leave. Shakily, she slid her shirt back on and stumbled out the door, rushing home to book the next flight to Tibet as soon as she set foot in her house.

And the rest was history.

Adrien broke up with her that night. There wasn't a fight, no yelling or screaming. Just tears, lots of tears. They went to bed together and the following morning when Marinette woke up and found herself alone in the bed, she packed up her things and walked out. Adrien was sleeping in a chair in the living room, tear tracks drying on his cheeks, and just knowing that she was the one who caused those tears made Marinette's heart break even more. So, she left without saying goodbye because she knew that that's what it was coming to. They were over with, completely done. Adrien wouldn't want her ever again. She was a cheater; she didn't deserve Adrien's love and she never would. Adrien deserved better. Adrien deserved the world.

What Adrien didn't deserve was being hurt the way Marinette just hurt him and in that moment, as she was walking out of the building Adrien lived in, Marinette made up her mind...

Adrien would never know about the baby. Marinette wouldn't put him through that. Adrien needed to move on and he wouldn't be able to do that knowing that his stupid cheating ex was pregnant with their child. So Marinette zipped her lips even though it killed her to not tell Adrien about the baby.

::::::::::

When it came down to it, Marinette didn't tell anyone about the pregnancy. After the break-up, she was too far gone to even care whether or not anybody paid attention to her. There had been several times that a few of her friends tried to get her to talk about the break-up, but she was so tired and disgusted with herself that she shrugged them off. Her pregnancy had been going well though, so there was a little bit of light in the dark tunnel that became her life. Other than that, however, Marinette felt truly alone.

Hiding her pregnancy was tough. She went to all of her appointments alone and made sure to intercept any mail that came through the door that might have anything about her medical history in it. For once in her life, she was thankful that her parents were very busy because they weren't able to catch any insurance statements that were slipped in their mailbox by the mailman. Marinette made sure to grab those up so her dad wouldn't see the various tests and check-ups Marinette had been going to without telling them. It wasn't like she was ashamed of her pregnancy - she was far from that. But she was scared. Her parents did their best with her and sure, they were a little occupied, but they loved her and supported her. The main thing she was terrified about was them finding out she was pregnant. Her dad hated Adrien with a passion; he just didn't like him. And his mom, while very caring, would probably flip out upon finding out about her first grandchild. She couldn't let them know.

So she took every precaution to make sure they didn't.

She made her appointments on days they would be out. She refrained from buying anything for the baby until she was sure she was going to keep it (because the word adoption rolled around in her head thousands of times) and she hid all of her ultrasound photos in places she knew her parents would never look.

However, despite being so careful, she knew she wouldn't be able to hide her belly forever. She liked wearing tight pants, shirts, and coats. She couldn't wear that stuff with a growing bump. Nothing fit her well anymore, so she stocked up on big sweatshirts and hoodies from the thrift store. Everyone around her thought she was dressing down because she was upset about the break-up and truthfully, while she was upset about losing Adrien, the whole jeans/t-shirt/hoodie combo was more about hiding her stomach than it ever was about Adrien. But she let everybody think what they needed to in order to keep her pregnancy a secret.

Other than that, Marinette quit doing the things she loved, like being Ladybug. Hawkmoth was inactive so when she did the same not many people noticed.

Marinette was in her sixth month, pushing close to her seventh. Her main priority was the health of her baby, so she lessened her workload and focused on graduating and getting out of Collège Françoise Dupont without incident. Sure, she got a lot of flack for not participating in the tons of after-school activities she signed up for, but she didn't care. She had her child's health to look after, as well as her own even though she knew she wasn't taking care of herself as well as she should've been.

The constant lying and hiding became stressful. Most days, Marinette just wanted to sleep and ignore everyone, but the people around her wanted her to snap out of her funk and move on. She was very thankful when Christmas break came; Marinette sent her parents off to see her grandmother in Italy, claiming that she was going to spend time with the Agrestes that Christmas since Adrien was coming in. She never told her parents about the break-up nor did they know that Adrien was staying in Tibet over the holiday, so they left without questioning the whole thing, and once they were gone, it was like a weight lifted off of Marinette's shoulders.

She spent that whole week catching up on her sleep and on Saturday, she was shocked to find her phone ringing with Adrien's name displayed on the screen.

She wasn't shocked though when the very first thought in her mind was to ignore the call. And ignore it she did.

::::::::::

The rest of the year went by pretty slowly.

Marinette hid her growing bump beneath her countless sweaters and hoodies, using the excuse that she was still upset over the break-up and just didn't want to do anything anymore. Alya confronted her one day about being depressed, claiming that what she was doing wasn't normal.

Days later, Marinette's phone rang again - this time it was Adrien's father Gabriel and the man left a message that he was planning on surprising Adrien and wondered if Marinette wanted to go. In all honesty, Marinette did want to go. She wanted to see Adrien and tell him about the baby. She wanted Adrien to know that he was going to be a father and even though she knew Adrien would be pissed that Marinette hadn't told him sooner, maybe he'd still want to take a chance at being them again. That same night, Marinette called Gabriel back and had a conversation with the man that ended up making up her mind for her.

She wasn't going to go and he wasn't going to tell Adrien about the baby. Adrien had been accepted at Tibet University.

According to Gabriel, Adrien after working the last year for more credit and what seemed like a bad interview. He received an acceptance letter a few days later and now he was going to his dream school; he was going to live his dream.

Marinette couldn't break that. She couldn't stop Adrien from fulfilling his dreams, not with the news she was going to share. She knew Adrien. God, she knew Adrien better than she knew herself, and she knew that her ex would want to postpone his school year to help Marinette, especially with their child, and Marinette wasn't going to have that. So, she turned Gabriel down, claiming she and her family were going to go see family over that time (though that was a lie because they had no plans to do so) Gabriel mentioned that he was sad Marinette couldn't make it and that he wished her the best and that was that.

Later on that evening, Marinette cried herself to sleep, arms curled tight around her belly as she wept over how complicated she'd made things.

::::::::::

That was the last Marinette heard from the Agrestes - or heard about the Agrestes- until Valentine's Day rolled around.

She'd been so lost in her own little world that she completely missed a lot of things going on at her school. Her mindset was on the baby, now that she was in her ninth month. Her goal was to graduate, so she buried herself in school work and ignored the gossip mill around her. After the break-up, she relinquished her positions in all of the after-school clubs she'd joined at the beginning of the year, so she didn't have those things tying her down and with her miraculous duties over, she didn't really have to pay attention to much at all. Her life revolved around making sure she kept herself healthy so that her baby (that she learned was a little girl a few months back) would be healthy too. Her daughter laid high in her stomach, so she didn't look as pregnant as she should have for nine months, but for that, Marinette was thankful because that meant that the hoodies and heavy winter sweaters she wore covered her bump amazingly. The only downside to the baby sitting higher up in her belly was the fact that it wrecked her insides. She was in pain a lot of the time (sometimes excruciating pain), but she knew it was something she had to deal with in order to have a healthy baby, so she kept her mouth shut and marched on.

Then a few days before Valentine's, Alya came up to her and asked if she was going to attend Jagged Stone's wedding.

At the time, she hadn't been invited. Jagged didn't say a word to her, but then again, Marinette always knew he was very forgetful. One day she caught Penny staring at her in the bakery, but she never spoke to her either, so she just went on with her life without a care. But now, Alya was telling her the two were getting married and that everyone important was going to be there and Marinette couldn't help but ask, "Even Adrien?"

And when Alya's face fell a bit, Marinette knew she wasn't going to like the answer.

"Yeah, but he's bringing a date. Uhhh, some girl he's been dating for a while, I guess. Sorry."

Obviously, despite later receiving the invite, Marinette ended up skipping the wedding

::::::::::

It was for the best that she didn't go to the wedding. Through gossip, she heard that the wedding was a bust and nobody had any fun at the canceled ceremony or the reception. She wasn't sure if that was all true or not, but it was better for her that she didn't go in the first place. For one, Adrien showed up with his new girlfriend and Marinette wasn't sure if she was ready to deal with that yet. And two, the baby's due date was just a few weeks after the wedding; the little girl was due on March 5th.

When Marinette first found out she was pregnant last summer, she was surprised at how far along she was, but she knew when the baby was conceived. Calculating that was pretty easy.

Their child was conceived on a hot summer's night in June after a day of running through the city and seductively eating popsicles in front of each other. Marinette's lips were stained cherry red from the ice pop. Adrien gave in and dragged her into his house, pushing her up against the wall and kissing away the fruity taste from her lips.

Memories of that night stayed imprinted in Marinette's mind, especially when the doctors figured that was the date of the baby's conception. It was such a fun night, a loving night (and moment) and to know that Marinette was about to have a permanent reminder of it all was kind of bittersweet. Bitter as in she and Adrien were over with for good, but sweet that she had a reminder of Adrien to remember him by.

It was very late in the evening of March 4th when Marinette woke up with slight back pains. They were nothing unusual for her pregnancy, per se, but it was still uncomfortable especially when she had just fallen asleep and wasn't expecting to wake up for several more hours. For the rest of that night, she tossed and turned in bed, struggling to get comfortable, however, she was fighting a losing battle. Deep down, she wanted to creep down the hall to her parent's room and wake her mother (the only one home tonight ) and let her know everything, but she couldn't. She'd been so good at hiding the pregnancy from them so far and even though her due date was the next day, she was still scared to tell them because she didn't want to disappoint them.

In her mind, she told herself that they'd be disappointed anyway once she had the baby, but she didn't care. By then, the baby would be there and she'd be so enthralled with her that she wouldn't give a crap what her parents thought.

Groaning, she rolled over onto her side and wrapped her legs around her body pillow, snuggling close to it as another wave of pain trickled down her back and into her belly. Honestly, they felt like Braxton Hicks' contractions - she'd been having those off and on for weeks now, so she wasn't too worried. Even though her due date was right there, she knew first babies had a knack for being late.

When another round of tightening discomfort rippled through her, Marinette clutched at her belly and whined, murmuring to her baby to just let her sleep for a few hours so that she could be rested up for her English test that day. "Is this payback for reading you The Canterbury Tales?" She asked her belly when the pain subsided, rubbing the rounded flesh as she settled down against the wall of pillows she had spread around her. It was the only way she could sleep nowadays thanks to the constant pain in her back and on the nights where she knew she'd be sleeping surrounded by pillows and showing off her obvious pregnant belly, she locked her bedroom door so that her parents couldn't just barge in and see what she was hiding.

Much like that night when her door was securely locked. She sat up, staring through the darkness to make sure she could see the knob lock turned upwards and when she was sure it was still secure, she laid back down, rolling over to pop a few ibuprofen to help dampen the ache in her back so she could sleep.

The painkillers seemed to help a little, enough that Marinette got a few hours more of sleep in before she had to go to school. Once again, it was snowing lightly outside - Paris winters were pretty crazy sometimes, but Marinette loved it nonetheless. That morning (like every morning) she dressed warmly in a t-shirt, (one that was big on her and fit comfortably over her swollen belly), and a pair of maternity jeans before went off to school, ignoring the growing ache that was beginning to travel all over her body. Throughout the day, she went through her classes as if she were in a fog. Her body felt like it was being controlled by something other than her and her head pounded. She was exhausted, overwhelmed with nausea, and by the time she got to her English class, she was ready to fall over.

"Are you okay, Ms. Cheng?" Her teacher asked her, pausing in his motions to hand out the tests. Marinette glanced up at him, noting how blurry he looked, and she blinked rapidly, trying to nod her head before a tidal wave of pain slammed into her and she gasped, hands flying to her belly to try and stop the hurt. Around her, her classmates turned to look at her and embarrassment flooded her cheeks; she knew they were wondering what was going on with her, but part of her was very far from caring, especially since it felt like her insides were about to explode from her abdomen. Another groan slipped from her lips and before she knew it, Alya was at her side, sliding an arm around her waist to help haul her from her seat.

Mr. Michael, her English teacher, said something about getting her to the nurse, so Alya dragged her out into the hall and that's when Marinette noticed Rose trailing behind them, her eyes watery with worry.

"What's wrong with you, Marinette?" She asked, her arms full of the blunette's things. Alya tightened her grip around Marinette's side and adjusted her a little bit better for the rest of the walk to the nurse's office. She kept saying something about getting her help, but Marinette couldn't hear her over the pounding in her ears. Her stomach was clenching itself up in yet another contraction and all she wanted to do was go off somewhere and hide - or go home even - but two of her friends were dragging her to see the nurse and oh god, they were going to find out.

"Stop," she panted, planting her feet on the floor once the contraction ended. "I'm fine."

"You're far from fine, Marinette. Something's wrong with you. You haven't been yourself lately. And you were crying in class! Something's wrong!"

Marinette shook her head, reaching out to take her things from Rose. "I'm fine. I just... I slipped on ice yesterday and I think I bruised my ribs. I dunno. I was taking a deep breath because I was nervous about the test and it made everything hurt."

Alya looked at her incredulously, like Marinette had grown another limb and was waving it around. "Seriously girl?"

"Yeah. I just- I really think I should go get it checked out."

"Well, then that's why we're taking you to the nurse. Come on," Alya went to wrap her arm back around Marinette's side, but Marinette shook her head, stepping away from her friend.

"It's okay. Really girls. I'm fine. I'll just go to the office and call my mom and she can take me. I'd rather have an actual doctor look at it instead of the school nurse, okay? Really."

"And you're sure you're fine?"

Marinette looked into Rose's eyes with as steady of a look as she could give her, "I'm positive. I'll be okay."

::::::::::

Getting home was a hassle within itself.

Marinette successfully snuck out of the building and to her car, but once she climbed inside, another contraction slammed into her like a freight train and she almost burst into tears, her fingers clutching the steering wheel as white-hot pain blistered all over her lower half. She wasn't stupid, she knew he was getting closer and closer to giving birth, but she was just so scared. The thought of doing this alone terrified her and deep down, she was regretting ever trying to do this by herself. She should have told someone. She should have confided in her mom, but she didn't. And now she was going to give birth alone.

Teary-eyed, she drove home and miraculously was able to sneak into the house without her mother knowing. All she wanted to do was grab the overnight bag she had packed and ready to go from her bedroom and then she'd sneak out and drive to the hospital. However, her baby had other plans and in the midst of climbing the stairs to her room, she dropped to her knees, crying out as another contraction hit her. A hand curled around her belly and she whimpered, using her other hand to clutch at the railing of the staircase. Tears ran down her cheeks and she began to cry, the fear from earlier falling hard on her shoulders as she realized how scared she truly was to be doing this by herself.

She wasn't ready for the baby, not yet. She had nothing prepared for the baby at all. There wasn't a nursery set up for her daughter- hell, there wasn't even a crib or a carseat to bring her home in yet! Marinette hadn't even had the time to buy any clothes for her child. She had nothing...

She was going to be a terrible mother.

Sobbing, she hunched down lower on the staircase and pressed her head against the carpet, shaking as the sobs that ripped through her got louder and louder. She wasn't even thinking by that time, too overwhelmed by pain and fear that she didn't realize that her cries alerted her mother, who just so happened to be in the kitchen writing a grocery list before she went to the store. Upon hearing her daughter's cries, she rushed out of the kitchen and down the hall, running into the foyer where she could hear Marinette's anguished whines grow louder.

"Honey? Marinette, what's wrong?"

Her mother's soothing voice entered her ears and Marinette sobbed louder, doing her best to turn on the steps to catch her mom's eye. Her hand stayed glued to her belly, rubbing large circles over the mound hidden beneath her hoodie, but she knew that when her mom caught the action, Sabine's just know.

"Mama?"

"Oh, sweetheart." The woman rushed up the stairs and knelt down beside her daughter, careful to not nudge her too much. She looked down, wide-eyed at the hand cupped over Marinette's belly and gently, she laid her hand next to it, gasping when a tiny bit of movement brushed her fingertips. "How long, Marinette? How far?"

"Today," Marinette whimpered, leaning forward to let her head rest against her mother's shoulder. She breathed in the smell of her perfume and began to cry again, shame filling her heart as she realized that she kept a huge secret from the one person who could have helped her the most. "My due date's today."

"Oh my god. Oh honey," Sabine cooed, removing her hand from her daughter's stomach to pull her into her arms. She kissed the top of her daughter's head before pulling back, a loving look in her eyes as she stared down at her little girl. "We need to get you to a hospital. Do you have a bag packed?"

"Yes. Mom, I'm so sorry!"

"It'll be okay, sweetheart. We can talk about this later. Let's get you to a hospital."

::::::::::

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten!"

Marinette slumped back, breaths panting from her chest as she closed her eyes and took a breather while they waited for another contraction to hit before she started again. Her mom was on her left side, one of her tiny hands wrapped around Marinette's while the other brushed her sweaty hair out of her face. There were two nurses at her feet, holding her legs back when she needed to push, and there were several hovering in the background waiting for the baby to be born so they could whisk the baby away to check up on her and do the usual APGAR tests to make sure she was okay.

They had only been at the hospital for a little over an hour when Marinette went into active delivery. When she got to the hospital, she was already at 9 centimeters of dilation and within a half hour, she was ready to push, which was what she was doing now.

Childbirth was draining. God, labor was draining, but this whole pushing ordeal really took the cake. Marinette was so tired. She'd labored for the past day and now all that was left was to bring her child into the world and she wasn't even sure if she could do it or not. Her mom kept on whispering encouraging words into her ear and counted along with the staff when Marinette pushed, so it was nice to have her there, but when the blunette really thought about it, who she really wanted there was Adrien.

However, Adrien didn't even know about the baby and if it were up to Marinette, he'd never know. How that would work, Marinette had no idea, but she'd think about that later - after she had her baby. Groaning, she sat back up, another contraction hitting her with the urge to push and she whined as the pain in her lower half grew sharper with each passing moment. Her mom said something to her about how well she was doing and she cried out, leaning her head against Sabine's as the countdown ticked away and the nurses told her, she could rest again.

Even though she was in the midst of giving birth, she couldn't help but wonder what Adrien was doing at that moment... was he out on a date with his new girlfriend? Was he impressing everyone on a board meeting with his charm? Was he thinking of Marinette perhaps? More tears filled her eyes at the thought and she pursed her lips together, shaking her head as images of Adrien kissing her and promising forever filled her mind.

God, she'd really fucked up, hadn't she?

"Here comes another contraction, Marinette. Chin to your chest and push!"

Marinette did as she was told, hissing when the burn down below became all too apparent and all she wanted to just close her legs and tell everyone to leave her alone. However, the nurses holding her legs seemed to be ready for something like this, so they held her calves a little tighter and said things to her about how well she was doing... as if that was going to make her feel any better.

"This hurts so bad," she grunted, grinding her teeth together when her doctor commanded her to push a little harder. Her mother chuckled a bit, which annoyed Marinette to no end, but Sabine kissed her on the side of sweaty temple and muttered, "Been there, done that, sweetie. But it's all worth it in the end."

Marinette hoped it was.

::::::::::

Natalie sat stone still at her desk, eyes watching Gabriel carefully as he stared at his cellphone, his thumb hovering over the call button as he fought with himself over dialing his son's number.

"What if this is some sort of joke?" Gabriel asked, looking up at Natalie with his light blue eyes full of fear. Natalie shrugged, tapping her fingers against the desk as she stared back at him.

"Why would Sabine lie to us about this though? You heard about Marinette leaving school in a lot of pain. Giving birth is pretty painful."

"I know that, but... She never said anything. I just talked to her at a while back and she didn't say a word."

"Maybe she was scared? She's still very young, Gabriel."

"But she cheated on my son. How do we even know that that baby's even Adrien's? Honestly, Natalie, how do we know?"

Natalie sighed, reaching across the table to take one of her bosses hands within her own. "We don't, but... look at the big picture here: Marinette's having the baby right now. If you look at the length of pregnancy, she would've gotten pregnant sometime in the summer. Like June-ish, long before Adrien went off to Tibet and before the... before the cheating happened. That baby's most likely Adrien's."

"God. I just don't know what to do, Natalie. How am I supposed to tell my son that he's going to be a father?"

"Break it to him gently. You're good at that." She lied but at least Gabriel seemed to believe it.

Gabriel shook his head, "He's supposed to come in next week for his mother's funeral. What if I call him now and he thinks that this has something to do with her? What if he thinks I got her back ?"

"Then explain it to him. Do whatever you can to get him home."

::::::::::

"That was a great push, Marinette! You're almost done!"

A cool cloth ran across the sweat beading her brow and Marinette sighed, thankful for the soothing touch. She was trembling, her body doing whatever it could to keep her going during this incredibly exerting act, and deep in her heart, she was glad there were people there to help her. Her mom was a steady presence at her side, occasionally slipping ice chips into her mouth and wiping the sweat from her forehead before it dripped into her eyes. The nurses around her rubbed her belly and checked the monitor strapped to it, making sure everything was alright while keeping a close eye on the baby's heart rate as she was being born. They were also very motivating with their words, which was great because Marinette wasn't sure how long she'd be able to do this without cracking.

"Is she almost out?" She asked breathlessly, head pounding and lower half completely burning. The doctor shook his head; he was busy doing something down there, but he answered his patient's question nonetheless.

"Her head is. After that, you'll almost be done. You're doing great though."

Marinette closed her eyes when she felt her mom's fingers thread back in between hers. Sabine kissed her daughter's forehead again and hummed, "I can't believe I'm about to be a grandma."

"We hear that a lot," one of the nurses chimed in and Marinette wondered if those other grandmas too had learned about their potential grandchildren an hour before they were born or if her mom was the first. She continued to think about that until she felt the pressure build up within her and she began to push, listening as the staff and her mom counted while her body did what it had to do.

Pain burst through her, the hardest part of the birth almost over, but it was still enough to make her gasp out in agony, her hand squeezing the living daylights out of her mother's.

"So, so good, Marinette! You're almost there!"

The stinging fire grew worse down there and she screamed, pushing harder to just get it over with. She was almost blind with suffering, delusional from the pain and the fact that she hadn't had the time to get any sort of numbing medication to help with the birth. At the time, she thought maybe that's what she deserved because she kept it a secret for so long and because she lied to so many people about it.

Now she wanted to kick herself in the face for even thinking that.

"It hurts," she moaned, whining when she was told to push again. Her mom did her best to calm Marinette down, telling her that it was almost over and that she'd be able to hold her baby soon, but the blunette was just so tired. Her body felt like jello minus the bits that twinged in discomfort and all she wanted to do was rest, but she was so close. "Mom, I'm so tired-"

"I know, honey. But it's almost over."

"I can't do this."

"You're almost there."

"I want Adrien."

And there it was. She was tired. She did want to throw in the towel, but god, she wished Adrien was there so bad. She wished it was Adrien standing beside her cheering her on, coaxing her to bring their child into the world. She wished it was Adrien smoothing her hair back and holding her hand, pressing kisses to her scalp while she struggled to keep calm and get this all over with. But no, Adrien was in Tibet living it up, not knowing what was happening in a hospital room in Paris. He had a whole new life, one that didn't include Marinette and that was all Marinette's fault. That's why she was doing this alone. Sure, she had support from her mom and the hospital staff, but she wanted Adrien.

"I know you do, baby. I know," her mother whispered, hugging her close as she squeezed Sabine's hand a little tighter.

"I need him. Mom, please?"

"Marinette, you've gotta push, sweetheart. It's almost over. She's almost out. Just push her shoulders out, that's one of the hardest parts and then you're done! You'll be done and you'll meet your little one!"

"Mom-"

"Push!"

Crying out, she did as she was told, lip curled as she tucked into herself and put all her strength into bringing her child into the world. She pushed through the agony, yelping when the shoulders slipped through, and then all of a sudden, there was a gush followed by immediate relief.

"Oh-"

A tiny cry pierced the air and Marinette fell back against the bed, listening as the sweet sound of her daughter's cries filled the room. Her mom was laughing excitedly, clapping her hands now that her grandchild was out in the world, and the nurses smiled up at Marinette, telling her about what a great job she did. Then, there was a warmth on her chest, a squirming, welcome warmth, and the cries she heard just seconds before grew louder.

"Wha-"

"It's a girl! Congratulations!"

Weakly, she brought her hands up to her chest and curled them around her daughter, more tears filling her eyes when she felt the little girl wailing against her chest. From what she could see through her wet gaze, her daughter was small, so tiny and pink-skinned. Her head was capped with a little bit of light hair and her face, though scrunched from her crying, was ridiculously adorable. "Oh, she's perfect," she breathed, looking down at her baby with awe.

"Yes, she is." Her mom agreed, kissing Marinette's cheek as she admired her granddaughter. The nursing staff let them have a moment before they took the little one over to check up on her while Marinette got cleaned up and while the doctor and a few other nurses worked on Marinette, her mother crept to the other side of the room and took a few photos of her granddaughter, smiling as she snapped each one.

"And who are those for?" One of the nurses asked, grinning knowingly at the older woman.

"This little girl got another set of grandparents and some other relatives who are dying to meet her," Mrs. Cheng whispered, carefully sending the pictures to the various numbers she knew she had to text. Once she finished, she shut her phone off and went back to Marinette's side, not surprised to find her daughter struggling to stay awake. "You okay, sweetheart?"

"I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I have a whole new respect for you, mama."

"As I do for you. I love you so much, baby."

"I love you too."

::::::::::

Gabriel held the phone close to his heart, tears filling his eyes as he thought about the photo he just saw. He could have easily opened the picture again to look at it, but it was already burnt into his memory: the newborn babe laying in her crib, naked as a jaybird and still dirty from birth, but still so very beautiful. He knew that face anywhere, the face that the baby had. It was the same one he saw almost twenty years ago in that very same hospital. It was the same face he gazed down on in awe when a nurse passed over a tiny bundle wrapped in a soft blue blanket. It was the same face he saw smile at him for the first time; the same face that melted his heart.

There was no doubt in his mind that the baby was Adrien's. No doubt.

From the little button nose to the upturned lips. Hell, even her little chin looked like Adrien's, and Gabriel wondered to himself if the baby even inherited anything from her mother. Even in the picture, the baby's hair was lighter than Marinette's, a clear perfect blonde shade, like Adrien's had been when he was born, and the sight made Gabriel heart soar.

It was something he truly, truly needed, especially after the last few months.

Next week it was officially Emilie´s funeral. For the last few months, he thought about Adrien, about his son who had dealt with so much injustice throughout his young life. He thought about Adrien losing his mother not once but twice, the first time when she disappeared and the second when they as Chat Noir and Hawkmoth agreed on a truce to try to find a cure that didn't involve the miraculous. Sadly they hadn't and both were trying to move on with their life's.

And now he was a grandfather. Granted he just found out about his granddaughter a little over an hour or two ago, but still - he was a GRANDFATHER.

Still lost deep in his thoughts, he barely felt Natalie slide up next to him until she kissed his shoulder and hummed. "He looks like Adrien, doesn't he?"

"Every little bit of him."

"I thought so too. I've only seen pictures of Adrien as a baby, but from what I saw, that's Adrien through and through."

"Yep. It is. I can't believe it."

"Can't believe that when you woke up this morning, you'd be becoming a grandfather? That wasn't even in your agenda today."

Gabriel chuckled, "I wouldn't change it for anything."

The two stood there in silence, staring down at Gabriel's phone with love when he opened up the photo message that he received from Marinette's mother about a half hour giggled a bit when Gabriel zoomed in on the little girl's face, "Is Adrien coming in?"

"I tried to call him, but he didn't answer. I called Nino though and he said that he thought he was in a meeting so he'd probably call me back soon."

"Well, I hope he does. This is a pretty huge event and he needs to be here."

::::::::::

Adrien plopped down in his seat, sucking down a long gulp of water before he turned his phone back on and began sifting through his messages. His dad sent him a few texts about two hours before telling him to call the house, so he quickly dialed his dad's number, sliding down into his seat as nervousness set into his gut. It couldn't be good if his dad was calling him now, just a week before his mother's funeral, maybe he decided to return to his villainous ways. Next week, Adrien was going to fly out for the funeral; he had the whole week planned out. He'd land in Paris, meet up with his dad at the airport, go home and spend some time with his family, and then he'd go visit Collège Françoise Dupont to see his friends. It had been a while since he saw them (especially Marinette, even though he kept telling himself that it was for the best) but still, that was for next week.

He wasn't sure if he could handle bad news this week.

"Dad?"

"Hey, bud. Whaddya doin'?"

"I just finished a meeting. What's going on? Why did you call me? What's wrong?"

"Well, first off, slow down. Nothing's wrong... not really-"

Adrien tensed, "What do you mean not really? Why would you call me asking me to call you back if something wasn't wrong? You know how I freak out. I mean-"

"Just calm down, Adrien. Take a breath"

"But Dad-"

"It's about Marinette."

All of the blood drained out of Adrien's face. He sat up in his chair and twisted his fingers into the hem of his sweatshirt, ignoring the questions being asked of him from various members of the board. Kagami, his new girlfriend, hovered off to the side, curiously watching as Adrien began fidgeting in his seat.

"Adrien?"

The boy in question waved his hand, hushing the group as he pressed a hand to his quick beating heart. Thoughts of what happened not too long ago flooded his mind - there were incidents at Collège Françoise Dupont just weeks before and while it was after hours and nobody was harmed, when Adrien first heard about that moment, he thought of Marinette and nothing else. He even spent that evening fighting with himself about calling Marinette, but he didn't. Because they were over. Marinette cheated and they were done.

But he still missed her. God, he still loved her and he missed his ex every single day.

"Adrien, you still there?" His dad questioned and Adrien snapped back to reality, his fingers tightening harder around the bottom of his shirt.

"Just spit it out, dad. Please? I don't think I can take this-"

"Marinette just had a baby."

"She what?"

"Marinette gave birth to a little girl about an hour ago."

"She was... She was-"

"Pregnant? Yes ,son . It's a girl. Umm, it's-"

"Is it mine?"

There was a sigh on the other end and then Adrien's phone vibrated, causing him to jump a bit in his seat. Shaking, he pulled the phone away from his ear and went to open the text, fingers quivering as he watched a photo of a screaming newborn materialize before his eyes.

It looked like him. "Natalie?"

"Yeah, Adrien?"

Adrien sniffled, his voice cracking, already thick with emotion. Hot tears leaked from his eyes as he thought about the picture he just saw. A baby. A child. His child. "I need to come home. God, I need to come home right now."


End file.
